Methods for beam determination after beam pair link indication

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described that provide for signaling and switching of beam pair links (BPLs) for directional transmission beams between a base station and a user equipment (UE). A threshold value may be determined, which corresponds to an amount of time for a UE to receive and decode control information, and apply a different BPL than a current BPL that that is in use. The UE may maintain a BPL for data, which is used during data transmission time intervals (TTIs) until an indication is received to change the BPL for data. The UE and the base station may determine to change between BPLs based at least in part on the threshold value and a scheduling offset between a control channel transmission that allocates resources for a data TTI and a start of the data TTI.

CROSS REFERENCES

The present application for Patent is a Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/020,542 by SUBRAMANIAN et al., entitled “METHODSFOR BEAM DETERMINATION AFTER BEAM PAIR LINK INDICATION” filed Sep. 14,2020, which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/192,020 by SUBRAMANIAN, et al., entitled, “METHODS FOR BEAMDETERMINATION AFTER BEAM PAI LINK INDICATION” filed Nov. 15, 2018, whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/588,180by SUBRAMANIAN, et al., entitled “METHODS FOR BEAM DETERMINATION AFTERBEAM PAIR LINK INDICATION,” filed Nov. 17, 2017, assigned to theassignee hereof, and expressly incorporated herein.

BACKGROUND

The following relates generally to wireless communication, and morespecifically to methods for beam determination after beam pair linkindication.

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of suchmultiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as aLong Term Evolution (LTE) systems or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, andfifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR)systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multipleaccess (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM).A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number ofbase stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supportingcommunication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwiseknown as user equipment (UE).

In some cases, base stations and UEs may transmit using relatively highfrequencies referred to as millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies, in which abase station and a UE may communicate via one or more directional beams.A transmitter (e.g. a base station) may engage in a beam sweepingprocedure to establish an active beam pair with a receiver (e.g., a UE).An active beam pair may include an active transmit beam of thetransmitter and a corresponding active receive beam of the receiver. Thetransmit beams and the receive beams in an active beam pair may berefined through, for example, beam refinement procedures. When the basestation and UE identify a preferred beam, an active beam pair link (BPL)may be established for communications. In some cases, two or more BPLsmay be identified, and a base station and UE may switch to differentBPLs for transmissions based on channel conditions, for example.Techniques that may provide more efficient change of BPLs at a UE andbase station may be desirable to help enhance network efficiency.

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices,or apparatuses that support beam determination after beam pair linkindication. Generally, the described techniques provide for signalingand switching of beam pair links (BPLs) for directional transmissionbeams between a base station and a user equipment (UE). In some cases, athreshold value may be determined, which corresponds to an amount oftime for a UE to receive and decode control information, and apply adifferent BPL than a current BPL that is in use. In some cases, the UEmay maintain a BPL for data, which is used during data TTIs until anindication is received to change the BPL for data. In some cases, the UEand the base station may determine to change between BPLs based at leastin part on the threshold value and a scheduling offset between a controlchannel transmission that allocates resources for a data transmissiontime interval (TTI) and a start of the data TTI.

In some cases, if the scheduling offset is less than the thresholdvalue, the UE is unable and is not expected to switch beams prior to thestart of the data TTI. In some cases, if the scheduling offset is lessthan the threshold value, the UE may ignore a BPL indication provided inthe control channel information and receive a data TTI using the BPL fordata that was used in a prior data TTI. In other cases, if thescheduling offset is less than the threshold value, the UE may identifya BPL indication provided in the control information and verify that theBPL for data used for the corresponding data TTI matches the indicatedBPL. In the event that the BPL indicated in the control information doesnot match the BPL for data used by the UE for the corresponding dataTTI, the UE may determine that an error occurred in the receipt of aprior BPL indication (e.g., due to a failure to receive and decode aprior control information transmission), and the UE may enter aprocedure to correct the error (e.g., via a random access request orcontrol channel transmission on another carrier). In some cases, theprocedure to correct the error may include identifying a BPL indicationprovided in the control information and change the BPL for data to theindicated BPL for data TTIs that start after the time of the controlchannel transmission plus the threshold value.

In some cases, if the scheduling offset is greater than the thresholdvalue, the UE may switch the BPL for data to the BPL that is indicatedin the control information at the start of the corresponding data TTI.The UE may apply the BPL for data for all subsequent TTIs until itreceives another control information from which the UE may determinethat it is to change its BPL for data.

In cases where the base station determines that the BPL for datacommunication is to be changed based on channel conditions, the basestation may indicate the change in a subsequent control informationtransmission. In some cases, the base station may identify the thresholdvalue at the UE that corresponds to the amount of time for the UE todecode an indication of a BPL switch and apply a different BPL. The basestation may then provide an indication of a change in the BPL for datato the UE based on the scheduling offset, the time of the controlinformation transmission, the threshold value, and the BPL indication.All this information indicates to the UE whether the BPL for data willchange, a BPL change time, and the new value for the BPL for data.

A method of wireless communication is described. The method may includeestablishing, at a UE, a first connection with a base station using afirst beam pair link (BPL), maintaining a BPL for data, which isinitialized with the first BPL and is used during data transmission timeintervals (TTIs), identifying a threshold value corresponding to anamount of time needed by the UE to decode an indication of a BPL switchand apply a different BPL than the first BPL based at least in part onthe indication, receiving a first control information transmission at afirst time, the first control information transmission including ascheduling offset, an assignment for a first data TTI that starts at asecond time corresponding to the first time plus the scheduling offset,and a BPL indication, determining, based at least in part on thethreshold value and the scheduling offset, whether to switch the BPL fordata and a switching time for making the switch, and switching the BPLfor data to a second BPL at the switching time responsive to determiningto switch the BPL for data.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus mayinclude means for establishing, at a user equipment, a first connectionwith a base station using a first beam pair link (BPL), means formaintaining a BPL for data, which is initialized with the first BPL andis used during data transmission time intervals (TTIs), means foridentifying a threshold value corresponding to an amount of time neededby the UE to decode an indication of a BPL switch and apply a differentBPL than the first BPL based at least in part on the indication, meansfor receiving a first control information transmission at a first time,the first control information transmission including a schedulingoffset, an assignment for a first data TTI that starts at a second timecorresponding to the first time plus the scheduling offset, and a BPLindication, means for determining, based at least in part on thethreshold value and the scheduling offset, whether to switch the BPL fordata and a switching time for making the switch, and means for switchingthe BPL for data to a second BPL at the switching time responsive todetermining to switch the BPL for data.

Another apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatusmay include a processor, memory in electronic communication with theprocessor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions maybe operable to cause the processor to establish, at a user equipment, afirst connection with a base station using a first beam pair link (BPL),maintain a BPL for data, which is initialized with the first BPL and isused during data transmission time intervals (TTIs), identify athreshold value corresponding to an amount of time needed by the UE todecode an indication of a BPL switch and apply a different BPL than thefirst BPL based at least in part on the indication, receive a firstcontrol information transmission at a first time, the first controlinformation transmission including a scheduling offset, an assignmentfor a first data TTI that starts at a second time corresponding to thefirst time plus the scheduling offset, and a BPL indication, determine,based at least in part on the threshold value and the scheduling offset,whether to switch the BPL for data and a switching time for making theswitch, and switch the BPL for data to a second BPL at the switchingtime responsive to determining to switch the BPL for data.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for wireless communication isdescribed. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may includeinstructions operable to cause a processor to establish, at a userequipment, a first connection with a base station using a first beampair link (BPL), maintain a BPL for data, which is initialized with thefirst BPL and is used during data transmission time intervals (TTIs),identify a threshold value corresponding to an amount of time needed bythe UE to decode an indication of a BPL switch and apply a different BPLthan the first BPL based at least in part on the indication, receive afirst control information transmission at a first time, the firstcontrol information transmission including a scheduling offset, anassignment for a first data TTI that starts at a second timecorresponding to the first time plus the scheduling offset, and a BPLindication, determine, based at least in part on the threshold value andthe scheduling offset, whether to switch the BPL for data and aswitching time for making the switch, and switch the BPL for data to asecond BPL at the switching time responsive to determining to switch theBPL for data.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the determining comprisesdetermining to switch the BPL for data based at least in part ondetermining that the scheduling offset may be greater than or equal tothe threshold value, and to switch the BPL for data to the second BPL atthe second time. In some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above, the determiningcomprises determining to maintain the first BPL as the BPL for databased on determining that the scheduling offset may be less than thethreshold value.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for identifying that an error inreceiving a prior BPL indication has occurred based at least in part ondetermining that the scheduling offset is less than the threshold value,and the BPL indicated differs from the BPL for data at the second time.Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for correcting, after the identifyingthe error in receiving the prior BPL indication, the BPL for data asmaintained by the UE and using the corrected BPL for data after thefirst time plus the threshold value if it is not overwritten by anyother signaled switch of the BPL for data occurring between the secondtime and the first time plus threshold value.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the determining comprisesdetermining to switch the BPL for data to the second BPL, based at leastin part on determining that the scheduling offset may be less than thethreshold value, effective starting at the first time plus the thresholdvalue. In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the determining comprisesdetermining to switch the BPL for data to the second BPL at the firsttime plus the threshold value irrespective of the scheduling offset. Insome examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the data TTIs include uplinkdata TTIs, downlink data TTIs, or combinations thereof.

A method of wireless communication is described. The method may includeestablishing, at a base station, a first connection with a userequipment (UE) using a first beam pair link (BPL), maintaining a BPL fordata, which is initialized with the first BPL and is used during datatransmission time intervals (TTIs), changing the BPL for data to asecond BPL based at least on one or more channel conditions, identifyinga threshold value corresponding to an amount of time for the ULE todecode an indication of a BPL switch and apply a different BPL based atleast in part on the indication, allocating resources for the UE for afirst data TTI, determining a scheduling offset between a controlinformation transmission indicating the allocated resources and a startof the first data TTI, and transmitting control information to the UE,the control information including the scheduling offset, an assignmentfor the first data TTI, and a BPL indication, and wherein the schedulingoffset, a time of the control information transmission, the thresholdvalue, and the BPL indication indicates to the UE whether the BPL fordata will change and a BPL change time.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus mayinclude means for establishing, at a base station, a first connectionwith a user equipment (UE) using a first beam pair link (BPL), means formaintaining a BPL for data, which is initialized with the first BPL andis used during data transmission time intervals (TTIs), means forchanging the BPL for data to a second BPL based at least on one or morechannel conditions, means for identifying a threshold valuecorresponding to an amount of time for the UE to decode an indication ofa BPL switch and apply a different BPL based at least in part on theindication, means for allocating resources for the UE for a first dataTTI, means for determining a scheduling offset between a controlinformation transmission indicating the allocated resources and a startof the first data TTI, and means for transmitting control information tothe UE, the control information including the scheduling offset, anassignment for the first data TTI, and a BPL indication, and wherein thescheduling offset, a time of the control information transmission, thethreshold value, and the BPL indication indicates to the UE whether theBPL for data will change and a BPL change time.

Another apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatusmay include a processor, memory in electronic communication with theprocessor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions maybe operable to cause the processor to establish, at a base station, afirst connection with a user equipment (UE) using a first beam pair link(BPL), maintain a BPL for data, which is initialized with the first BPLand is used during data transmission time intervals (TTIs), change theBPL for data to a second BPL based at least on one or more channelconditions, identify a threshold value corresponding to an amount oftime for the ULE to decode an indication of a BPL switch and apply adifferent BPL based at least in part on the indication, allocateresources for the UE for a first data TTI, determine a scheduling offsetbetween a control information transmission indicating the allocatedresources and a start of the first data TTI, and transmit controlinformation to the UE, the control information including the schedulingoffset, an assignment for the first data TTI, and a BPL indication, andwherein the scheduling offset, a time of the control informationtransmission, the threshold value, and the BPL indication indicates tothe UE whether the BPL for data will change and a BPL change time.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for wireless communication isdescribed. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may includeinstructions operable to cause a processor to establish, at a basestation, a first connection with a user equipment (UE) using a firstbeam pair link (BPL), maintain a BPL for data, which is initialized withthe first BPL and is used during data transmission time intervals(TTIs), change the BPL for data to a second BPL based at least on one ormore channel conditions, identify a threshold value corresponding to anamount of time for the UE to decode an indication of a BPL switch andapply a different BPL based at least in part on the indication, allocateresources for the UE for a first data TTI, determine a scheduling offsetbetween a control information transmission indicating the allocatedresources and a start of the first data TTI, and transmit controlinformation to the UE, the control information including the schedulingoffset, an assignment for the first data TTI, and a BPL indication, andwherein the scheduling offset, a time of the control informationtransmission, the threshold value, and the BPL indication indicates tothe UE whether the BPL for data will change and a BPL change time.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, a change of the BPL for datafor the first data TTI may be indicated by the scheduling offset beinggreater than or equal to the threshold value. Some examples of themethod, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium describedabove may further include processes, features, means, or instructionsfor determining not to convey a change of the BPL for data when thescheduling offset may be less than the threshold value.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, when the scheduling offset maybe less than the threshold value, the BPL indicated in the controlinformation indicates the BPL used for the first data TTJ. In someexamples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readablemedium described above, a change of the BPL for data may be indicated bythe scheduling offset being less than the threshold value, and the BPLchange time corresponds to the time of the control informationtransmission plus the threshold value.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, a change of the BPL for datamay be indicated irrespective of the scheduling offset, and the BPLchange time corresponds to the time of the control informationtransmission plus the threshold value. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the data TTIs include uplink data TTIs, downlink data TTIs, orcombinations thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system for wireless communicationthat supports methods for beam determination after beam pair linkindication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communication subsystem thatsupports methods for beam determination after beam pair link indicationin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3 through 8 illustrate examples of timings between controlinformation transmissions and associated data TTIs that support methodsfor beam determination after beam pair link indication in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a process flow that supports methodsfor beam determination after beam pair link indication in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 10 through 12 show block diagrams of a device that supportsmethods for beam determination after beam pair link indication inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of a system including a UE thatsupports methods for beam determination after beam pair link indicationin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 14 through 16 show block diagrams of a device that supportsmethods for beam determination after beam pair link indication inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates a block diagram of a system including a base stationthat supports methods for beam determination after beam pair linkindication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 18 through 20 illustrate methods for methods for beamdetermination after beam pair link indication in accordance with aspectsof the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various described techniques provide for signaling and switching of beampair links (BPLs) for directional transmission beams between a basestation and a user equipment (UE). In some cases, a threshold value maybe determined, which corresponds to an amount of time for a UE toreceive and decode control information, and apply a different BPL than acurrent BPL that is in use. In some cases, the UE may maintain a BPL fordata, which is used during data TTIs until an indication is received tochange the BPL for data. In some cases, the UE and the base station maydetermine to change between BPLs based at least in part on the thresholdvalue and a scheduling offset between a control channel transmissionthat allocates resources for a data transmission time interval (TTI) anda start of the data TTI.

As indicated above, in mmW systems a base station and UE may communicatevia one or more directional beams, and a base station may engage in abeam sweeping operation to establish an active transmit beam with a UE.A base station may also engage in beam tracking to maintain a connectionwith a UE. In some cases, the base station, as part of the beam sweepprocedure, may perform a sector sweep with wide-formed, lower gain beamsto establish a primary connection. Then, the base station may performbeam refinement using narrower, higher gain beams, and the UE and basestation may identify one or more BPLs that are suitable for subsequentcommunications. Once the BPLs are identified, the base station maysignal to the UE which BPL is to be used for data TTIs, which mayinclude uplink data TTIs in which data is transmitted from the UE to thebase station, downlink TTIs in which data is transmitted from the basestation to the UE, or combinations thereof. The base station in somecases may perform a continuous beam tracking process to identify apreferred BPL for communications with the UE. For example, a first BPLmay be the BPL for data, and the base station may determine that asecond BPL has better channel conditions and should be used insubsequent transmissions (e.g., due to signal fading or blockage of thefirst BPL).

In order to switch between BPLs, various techniques such as describedherein provide for dynamic switching of BPLs. For dynamic switchingpurposes, the BPL may be conveyed to the UE in the same controlinformation message (e.g., downlink control information (DCI)) thatcontains the scheduling assignment of a data TTI (e.g., a physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission). For example, the DCI maycontain a BPL indication (which may also be referred to as a spatialquasi colocation (QCL) indication), details of the TTI, and a schedulingoffset. The scheduling offset indicates the time between the symbol thatcontains the DCI and the start of the associated data TTI. However, asindicated above, the UE may need a certain period of time to receive anddecode an indication of a BPL switch and to perform the BPL switch, andsuch a time period is referred to herein as a threshold value. In theevent that the base station determines to switch BPLs, the schedulingoffset to indicate such a change that is implemented at the UE for adata TTI needs to be greater than or equal to the threshold value.Various aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques forindicating BPLs for data to a UE, and UE actions based on receivedindications of BPLs. Such techniques may provide for relatively fastswitching between BPLs, and may also provide opportunities for UEs toidentify if an error in one or more BPL indications has occurred. Suchtechniques may improve network efficiency through transmissions usingfavorable BPLs, which may support higher data rates, lower error rates,or combinations thereof.

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of awireless communications system. Various examples of timings forindications of BPLs for data and associated data TTIs, and process flowsare then described. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated byand described with reference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, andflowcharts that relate to methods for beam determination after beam pairlink indication.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100 inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The wirelesscommunications system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs 115, and acore network 130. In some examples, the wireless communications system100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network(also referred to as a 4G network), or a New Radio (NR) network (alsoreferred to as a 5G network). In some cases, wireless communicationssystem 100 may support enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable(i.e., mission critical) communications, low latency communications, andcommunications with low-cost and low-complexity devices. Wirelesscommunications system 100 may support mmW transmissions and beamswitching techniques for switching BPLs, as discussed herein.

Base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate with UEs 115 via one ormore base station antennas. Base stations 105 described herein mayinclude or may be referred to by those skilled in the art as a basetransceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radiotransceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation Node B orgiga-nodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB,a Home eNodeB, or some other suitable terminology. Wirelesscommunications system 100 may include base stations 105 of differenttypes (e.g., macro or small cell base stations). The UEs 115 describedherein may be able to communicate with various types of base stations105 and network equipment including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, gNBs,relay base stations, and the like.

Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographiccoverage area 110 in which communications with various UEs 115 issupported. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage fora respective geographic coverage area 110 via communication links 125,and communication links 125 between a base station 105 and a UE 115 mayutilize one or more carriers. Communication links 125 shown in wirelesscommunications system 100 may include uplink transmissions from a UE 115to a base station 105, or downlink transmissions, from a base station105 to a UE 115. Downlink transmissions may also be called forward linktransmissions while uplink transmissions may also be called reverse linktransmissions.

The geographic coverage area 110 for a base station 105 may be dividedinto sectors making up only a portion of the geographic coverage area110, and each sector may be associated with a cell. For example, eachbase station 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, asmall cell, a hot spot, or other types of cells, or various combinationsthereof. In some examples, a base station 105 may be movable andtherefore provide communication coverage for a moving geographiccoverage area 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas110 associated with different technologies may overlap, and overlappinggeographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies maybe supported by the same base station 105 or by different base stations105. The wireless communications system 100 may include, for example, aheterogeneous LTE/LTE-A or NR network in which different types of basestations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas 110.

UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the wireless communications system100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also bereferred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, ahandheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitableterminology, where the “device” may also be referred to as a unit, astation, a terminal, or a client. A UE 115 may also be a personalelectronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. Insome examples, a UE 115 may also refer to a wireless local loop (WLL)station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything(IoE) device, or an MTC device, or the like, which may be implemented invarious articles such as appliances, vehicles, meters, or the like.

In some cases, a UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly withother UEs 115 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or device-to-device(D2D) protocol). In such cases, a first UE 115 may be a transmitter andanother UE 115 may be a receiver. One or more of a group of UEs 115utilizing D2D communications may be within the geographic coverage area110 of a base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outsidethe geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105, or be otherwiseunable to receive transmissions from a base station 105. In some cases,groups of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communications may utilize aone-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE 115 transmits to every otherUE 115 in the group. In some cases, a base station 105 facilitates thescheduling of resources for D2D communications. In other cases, D2Dcommunications are carried out between UEs 115 without the involvementof a base station 105.

Base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130 and with oneanother. For example, base stations 105 may interface with the corenetwork 130 through backhaul links 132 (e.g., via an S1 or otherinterface). Base stations 105 may communicate with one another overbackhaul links 134 (e.g., via an X2 or other interface) either directly(e.g., directly between base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g., via corenetwork 130).

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, accessauthorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and otheraccess, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be anevolved packet core (EPC), which may include at least one mobilitymanagement entity (MME), at least one serving gateway (S-GW), and atleast one Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW). The MME may managenon-access stratum (e.g., control plane) functions such as mobility,authentication, and bearer management for UEs 115 served by basestations 105 associated with the EPC. User IP packets may be transferredthrough the S-GW, which itself may be connected to the P-GW. The P-GWmay provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The P-GWmay be connected to the network operators IP services. The operators IPservices may include access to the Internet, Intranet(s), an IPMultimedia Subsystem (IMS), or a Packet-Switched (PS) Streaming Service.

At least some of the network devices, such as a base station 105, mayinclude subcomponents such as an access network entity, which may be anexample of an access node controller (ANC). Each access network entitymay communicate with UEs 115 through a number of other access networktransmission entities, which may be referred to as a radio head, a smartradio head, or a transmission/reception point (TRP). In someconfigurations, various functions of each access network entity or basestation 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g.,radio heads and access network controllers) or consolidated into asingle network device (e.g., a base station 105).

Wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or morefrequency bands, such as in the range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz. In somecases, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known as the ultra-highfrequency (UHF) region or decimeter band, since the wavelengths rangefrom approximately one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves maybe blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features.However, the waves may penetrate structures sufficiently for a macrocell to provide service to UEs 115 located indoors. Transmission of UHFwaves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter range (e.g.,less than 100 km) compared to transmission using the smaller frequenciesand longer waves of the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF)portion of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

Wireless communications system 100 may also operate in a super highfrequency (SHF) region using frequency bands from 3 GHz to 30 GHz, alsoknown as the centimeter band. The SHF region includes bands such as the5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) bands, which may be usedopportunistically by devices that can tolerate interference from otherusers.

Wireless communications system 100 may also operate in an extremely highfrequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz),also known as the millimeter band. In some examples, wirelesscommunications system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW)communications between UEs 115 and base stations 105, and EHF antennasof the respective devices may be even smaller and more closely spacedthan UHF antennas. In some cases, this may facilitate use of antennaarrays within a UE 115. However, the propagation of EHF transmissionsmay be subject to even greater atmospheric attenuation and shorter rangethan SHF or UHF transmissions. Techniques disclosed herein may beemployed across transmissions that use one or more different frequencyregions, and designated use of bands across these frequency regions maydiffer by country or regulating body.

In some cases, wireless communications system 100 may use mmWcommunications between UEs 115 and base stations 105, which may usebeamforming techniques for transmitting and receiving transmissions.Devices operating in mmW or EHF bands may have multiple antennas toallow beamforming. That is, a base station 105 may use multiple antennasor antenna arrays to conduct beamforming operations for directionalcommunications with a UE 115. Beamforming (which may also be referred toas spatial filtering or directional transmission) is a signal processingtechnique that may be used at a transmitter (e.g., a base station 105)to shape and/or steer an overall antenna beam in the direction of atarget receiver (e.g., a UE 115). This may be achieved by combiningelements in an antenna array in such a way that transmitted signals atparticular angles experience constructive interference while othersexperience destructive interference. The adjustment of signalscommunicated via the antenna elements may include a transmitting deviceor a receiving device applying certain amplitude and phase offsets tosignals carried via each of the antenna elements associated with thedevice. The adjustments associated with each of the antenna elements maybe defined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particularorientation (e.g., with respect to the antenna array of the transmittingdevice or receiving device, or with respect to some other orientation).

In some cases, wireless communications system 100 may utilize bothlicensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example,wireless communications system 100 may employ License Assisted Access(LAA), LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technologyin an unlicensed band such as the 5 GHz ISM band. When operating inunlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands, wireless devices such as basestations 105 and UEs 115 may employ listen-before-talk (LBT) proceduresto ensure a frequency channel is clear before transmitting data. In somecases, operations in unlicensed bands may be based on a carrieraggregation (CA) configuration in conjunction with CCs operating in alicensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in unlicensed spectrum may includedownlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, peer-to-peertransmissions, or a combination of these. Duplexing in unlicensedspectrum may be based on frequency division duplexing (FDD), timedivision duplexing (TDD), or a combination of both. In some cases, mmWtransmissions may use an unlicensed high frequency band and a separateanchor carrier may be established in a lower band.

As indicated above, some signals (e.g. synchronization signals,reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) maybe transmitted by a base station 105 multiple times in differentdirections in a beam sweep operation, which may include a signal beingtransmitted according to different beamforming weight sets associatedwith different directions of transmission. Transmissions in differentbeam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by the base station 105or a receiving device, such as a UE 115) a beam direction for subsequenttransmission and/or reception by the base station 105. Some signals,such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, maybe transmitted by a base station 105 in a single beam direction (e.g., adirection associated with the receiving device, such as a UE 115). Insome examples, the beam direction associated with transmissions along asingle beam direction may be determined based at least in in part on asignal that was transmitted in different beam directions. For example, aUE 115 may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by the basestation 105 in different directions, and the UE 115 may report to thebase station 105 an indication of the signal it received with a highestsignal quality, or an otherwise acceptable signal quality. Althoughthese techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted inone or more directions by a base station 105, a UE 115 may employsimilar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times in differentdirections (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequenttransmission or reception by the UE 115), or transmitting a signal in asingle direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device).

A receiving device (e.g., a UE 115, which may be an example of a mmWreceiving device) may try multiple receive beams when receiving varioussignals from the base station 105, such as synchronization signals,reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals. Forexample, a receiving device may try multiple receive directions byreceiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing receivedsignals according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving accordingto different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals receivedat a plurality of antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processingreceived signals according to different receive beamforming weight setsapplied to signals received at a plurality of antenna elements of anantenna array, any of which may be referred to as “listening” accordingto different receive beams or receive directions. In some examples areceiving device may use a single receive beam to receive along a singlebeam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). The single receivebeam may be aligned in a beam direction determined based at least inpart on listening according to different receive beam directions (e.g.,a beam direction determined to have a highest signal strength, highestsignal-to-noise ratio, or otherwise acceptable signal quality based atleast in part on listening according to multiple beam directions).

In some cases, wireless communications system 100 may be a packet-basednetwork that operate according to a layered protocol stack. In the userplane, communications at the bearer or Packet Data Convergence Protocol(PDCP) layer may be IP-based. A Radio Link Control (RLC) layer may insome cases perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicateover logical channels. A Medium Access Control (MAC) layer may performpriority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transportchannels. The MAC layer may also use hybrid automatic repeat request(HARQ) to provide retransmission at the MAC layer to improve linkefficiency. In the control plane, the Radio Resource Control (RRC)protocol layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenanceof an RRC connection between a UE 115 and a base station 105 or corenetwork 130 supporting radio bearers for user plane data. At thePhysical (PHY) layer, transport channels may be mapped to physicalchannels.

The term “carrier” refers to a set of radio frequency spectrum resourceshaving a defined physical layer structure for supporting communicationsover a communication link 125. For example, a carrier of a communicationlink 125 may include a portion of a radio frequency spectrum band thatis operated according to physical layer channels for a given radioaccess technology. Each physical layer channel may carry user data,control information, or other signaling. A carrier may be associatedwith a pre-defined frequency channel (e.g., an E-UTRA absolute radiofrequency channel number (EARFCN)), and may be positioned according to achannel raster for discovery by UEs 115. Carriers may be downlink oruplink (e.g., in an FDD mode), or be configured to carry downlink anduplink communications (e.g., in a TDD mode). In some examples, signalwaveforms transmitted over a carrier may be made up of multiplesub-carriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques suchas OFDM or DFT-s-OFDM).

The organizational structure of the carriers may be different fordifferent radio access technologies (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, NR, etc.). Forexample, communications over a carrier may be organized according toTTIs or slots, each of which may include user data as well as controlinformation or signaling to support decoding the user data. A carriermay also include dedicated acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronizationsignals or system information, etc.) and control signaling thatcoordinates operation for the carrier. In some examples (e.g., in acarrier aggregation configuration), a carrier may also have acquisitionsignaling or control signaling that coordinates operations for othercarriers.

Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to varioustechniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel maybe multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using time divisionmultiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM)techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. In some examples, controlinformation transmitted in a physical control channel may be distributedbetween different control regions in a cascaded manner (e.g., between acommon control region or common search space and one or more UE-specificcontrol regions or UE-specific search spaces).

As indicated above, in some cases communications between a UE 115 and abase station 105 may be established using a first BPL having anassociated uplink transmission beam and downlink transmission beam. Thebase station 105, the UE 115, or both, may periodically measure one ormore channel conditions and may determine whether the first BPL, or adifferent second BPL, may be more suitable for subsequent transmissions.Upon determining that the second BPL should be used for subsequenttransmissions at the base station 105 (e.g., through channelmeasurements or receiving signaling from the UE 115 with channelmeasurements), the second BPL may be indicated to the UE 115 in acontrol information transmission (e.g., a DCI transmission using aPDCCH). Depending upon the scheduling offset and the threshold value forreceiving control information and changing BPLs at the UE 115, the UE115 may receive the control information and determine whether the BPL isto be changed. Such techniques may improve network efficiency throughtransmissions using favorable BPLs, which may support higher data rates,lower error rates, or combinations thereof.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communication subsystem 200that supports methods for beam determination after beam pair linkindication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.Wireless communication subsystem 200 may include a base station 105-aand a UE 115-a, which may be examples of the corresponding devicesdescribed with reference to FIG. 1 . Base station 105-a and UE 115-a maycommunicate using one or more directional beams. In wirelesscommunication system 200, a transmitter (e.g., base station 105-a) mayengage in a beam sweeping operation to establish an active BPL with areceiver (e.g., UE 115-a).

In some examples, the beam sweeping operation and any associated beamrefinement procedures to establish an active BPL between UE 115-a andthe base station 105-a may identify a number of suitable BPLs that maybe used for mmW communications. In some examples, base station 105-a mayuse a first port to transmit relatively wide-formed beams 205 (e.g.,analog beams), that may be transmitted towards different sectors orgeographic directions. In the example of FIG. 2 , a first wide-formedbeam 205-a may be transmitted in a first direction, a second wide-formedbeam 205-b may be transmitted in a second direction, and a thirdwide-formed beam 205-c may be transmitted in a third direction. In someexamples, the gain across a plurality of tones corresponding towide-formed beams 205 may be close to equal.

In some cases, wide-formed beams 205 may not be narrow enough or have ahigh enough gain to be a preferred directional transmit beam for use ina BPL. Transmissions from UE 115-a may be more clearly received anddecoded if received via a highly directional and refined transmit beam.Therefore, it may be beneficial for base station 105-a to use beamrefinement to generate narrower beamformed signals of refined beams 210,which may have a narrower coverage area but higher gain. UE 115-a mayidentify which of the refined beams 210 is received at the highest gain,and may indicate one or more such beams to the base station 105-a whichmay be used to identify one or more BPLs that are suitable forcommunications between the UE 115-a and the base station 105-a. In somecases, the base station 105-a may perform similar measurements on beams215 transmitted from the UE 115-a in order to determine one or more BPLsthat are suitable for communications.

In some cases, the base station 105-a and the UE 115-a may operate in anon-standalone configuration, in which mmW communications have anassociated low-band carrier or anchor carrier. In some cases, some orall control information may be transmitted between the UE 115-a and thebase station 105-a using such a low-band carrier, and data TTIs mayrefer to TTIs that are used to transmit data using high-band mmW BPLs.In some cases, as will be discussed in more detail below, the basestation 105-a may provide indications in control information, such as inDCI transmissions to the UE 115-a, of a BPL and a scheduling offset fora data TTI, and the BPL indication indicates to the UE 115-a whether theBPL for a data TTI will change, a BPL change time, and the associatedBPL. In other cases, a standalone configuration may be used in which allcontrol and data transmissions are transmitted using high-band mmWcarriers.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of timings between control informationtransmissions and associated data TTIs 300 that supports methods forbeam determination after beam pair link indication in accordance withvarious aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, timingsbetween control information transmissions and associated data TTIs 300may be used to implement aspects of wireless communication system 100.

In the example of FIG. 3 , a base station (e.g., a base station 105 ofFIG. 1 or 2 ) may transmit scheduling assignments 310 or resourceallocations for corresponding data TTIs 305. In some cases, thescheduling assignments 310 may be transmitted on a control channel(e.g., a PDCCH) in DCI. In some cases, the scheduling assignments 310may be transmitted using a low-band anchor carrier and the data TTIs 305may use high-band mmW carriers. In other cases scheduling assignments310 and the data TTIs 305 may both use high-band mmW carriers. The dataTTIs 305 may be uplink TTIs, downlink TTIs, or combinations thereof,that may include physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or physicaluplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions in which data may betransmitted.

In some examples, the DCI may contain the BPL indication (also referredto as a spatial quasi colocation (QCL) indication), details of the TTI(e.g., uplink or downlink resources, etc.), and a scheduling offset(s_(i)). The scheduling offset indicates, in some cases, the timebetween the symbol that contains the DCI and the start of the associateddata TTI. In the example of FIG. 3 , a first scheduling assignment 315may include an assignment for a first data TTI 340 (TTI₀) and mayindicate a first scheduling offset so corresponding to a time differencebetween the start time to of the first scheduling assignment 315 and thestart time of the first data TTI 340. In this example, a secondscheduling assignment 320 may include an assignment for a second dataTTI 345 (TTI₁) and may indicate a second scheduling offset s₁corresponding to a time difference between the start time t₁ of thesecond scheduling assignment 320 and the start time of the second dataTTI 345, with similar scheduling assignments for a third schedulingassignment 325, fourth scheduling assignment 330, and fifth schedulingassignment 335 that schedule corresponding third data TTI 350 (TTI₂),fourth data TTI 355 (TTI₃), and fifth data TTI 360 (TTI₄).

As indicated in the example of FIG. 3 the scheduling offsets can be varyin length and therefore the order of the TTIs does not have to match theorder of the associated DCIs with the scheduling assignments. In theexample of FIG. 3 , for example, the third data TTI 350 (TTI₂) ispreceded by fourth data TTI 355 (TTI₃). As discussed, schedulingassignments 310 may include a BPL or QCL indication, referred to asb_(i), and a UE (e.g., a UE 115 of FIG. 1 or 2 ) may use a beamcompatible with bL during the associated data TTI_(i). However, asindicated above, a UE may require some time to decode a DCI andscheduling assignment, extract the BPL or QCL indication, and preparethe associated beam to be ready when data TTI_(i) starts. In some cases,a threshold value, referred to as time K, may be an upper bound to thetime the UE requires to decode a DCI and prepare a beam corresponding tothe indicated BPL. In some cases, both the base station and the UE maybe aware of the threshold value K, and various beam scheduling rules maybe implemented that depend on K. In some cases, the threshold value Kmay either be part of the air-link specification or can be establishedafter the UE or several UEs have signaled to the base station theirindividual threshold values K between DCI receipt and beam readiness.The base station may use one value of K for each individual UE or onevalue K for a group of UEs, or one value K for all UEs.

In cases where the scheduling offset s_(i) is larger or equal to K, theUE has enough time to prepare a beam compatible with b_(i), and in theremaining case s_(i)<K this is not possible. Various aspects of thepresent disclosure provide techniques for determining a BPL to use for aTTI based on the value of K, the scheduling offset, and the BPL or QCLindicated in the scheduling assignment, that may provide a scheduler ata base station with relatively high flexibility with relatively smallscheduling offsets. Such techniques may enable the base station toprovide low latency for certain packets.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example of timings between controlinformation transmissions and associated data TTIs as well as associatedBPLs 400 that support methods for beam determination after beam pairlink indication in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. In some examples, timings between control informationtransmissions and associated data TTIs as well as associated BPLs 400may implement aspects of wireless communication system 100.

In the example of FIG. 4 , similarly as discussed with respect to FIG. 3, a base station (e.g., a base station 105 of FIG. 1 or 2 ) may transmitscheduling assignments 410 or resource allocations for correspondingdata TTIs 405. Scheduling assignments 410 may be transmitted on acontrol channel (e.g., a PDCCH) in DCI, as discussed above. In somecases, the scheduling assignments 410 may be transmitted using alow-band anchor carrier and the data TTIs 405 may use high-band mmWcarriers. In other cases scheduling assignments 410 and the data TTIsmay both use high-band mmW carriers. The data TTIs 405 may be uplinkTTIs, downlink TTIs, or combinations thereof, that may include physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH) or physical uplink shared channel(PUSCH) transmissions in which data may be transmitted.

As indicated above, the DCI may contain the BPL indication (alsoreferred to as a spatial quasi colocation (QCL) indication), details ofthe TTI (e.g., uplink or downlink resources, etc.), and a schedulingoffset (s_(i)). In this example, some of the scheduling assignments 410may include a BPL indication b_(i) (or QCL indication). The schedulingoffset indicates, in some cases, the time between the symbol thatcontains the DCI and the start of the associated data TTI. In theexample of FIG. 4 , similarly as discussed in FIG. 3 , a firstscheduling assignment 415 may include an assignment for a first data TTI440 (TTI₀) and may indicate a first scheduling offset so correspondingto a time difference between the start time to of the first schedulingassignment 415 and the start time of the first data TTI 440. In thisexample, a second scheduling assignment 420 may include an assignmentfor a second data TTI 445 (TTI₁) and may indicate a second schedulingoffset s₁ corresponding to a time difference between the start time t₁of the second scheduling assignment 420 and the start time of the seconddata TTI 445, with similar scheduling assignments for a third schedulingassignment 425, fourth scheduling assignment 430, and fifth schedulingassignment 435 that schedule corresponding third data TTI 450 (TTI₂),fourth data TTI 455 (TTI₃), and fifth data TTI 460 (TTI₄).

In the example of FIG. 4 , the base station may use relatively largescheduling offsets to signal BPL changes to the UE. In this example,TTIs between BPL changes can be scheduled with small scheduling offsetsand a rule may be established that states that those TTIs scheduled withsmall offsets use the same BPL as the most recent TTI scheduled with alarge offset. In the example of FIG. 4 , a BPL change may be indicatedat the start of TTI₀ 440 to change from a prior BPL to b₀, and anotherchange at the start of TTI₂ 450 to change from b₀ to b₁. In this case,the intermediate TTIs (namely TTI₁ 445 and TTI₃ 455) are scheduled withsmall offsets, and data TTIs with such small offsets (e.g., a schedulingoffset of s_(i)<K) may be transmitted by the base station using the sameBPL as the most recent data TTI, and the UE may assume the same BPL asthe most recent TTI scheduled with a large offset is used. In such acase, in the example of FIG. 4 , the first TTI 440 (TTI₀) may betransmitted using a first BPL 465 (i.e., b₀), and the second TTI 445(TTI₁) and fourth TTI (TTI₃) may have scheduling offsets (s₁ and s₃)that are less than K, and in this example the first BPL 465 is used foreach. The third data TTI 450 (TTI₂), which in this example is after thefourth TTI 455 due to the associated scheduling offset, may switch to asecond BPL 470.

In cases as discussed with respect to FIG. 4 , if BPL indications ofscheduling assignments 410 are provided when the scheduling offset isless than the threshold value, a UE may ignore the BPL indication. Insome cases, however, if a UE misses a scheduling assignment 410 thatindicates a changed BPL, then the UE may apply the wrong beam forsubsequent data TTIs. In case of FIG. 4 , if the UE fails to receive anddecode the first scheduling assignment 415, then TTI₀ 440, TTI₁ 445, andTTI₃ 455 would be lost. In some cases, as will be discussed with respectto FIG. 5 , a UE may verify a BPL indication in scheduling assignments410 that have a scheduling offset that is less than the threshold value.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example of timings between controlinformation transmissions and associated data TTIs as well as associatedBPLs 500 that supports methods for beam determination after beam pairlink indication in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. In some examples, control information transmissions andassociated data TTIs as well as associated BPLs 500 may implementaspects of wireless communication system 100.

In the example of FIG. 5 , similarly as discussed with respect to FIGS.3 and 4 , a base station (e.g., a base station 105 of FIG. 1 or 2 ) maytransmit scheduling assignments 510 or resource allocations forcorresponding data TTIs 505. Scheduling assignments 510 may betransmitted on a control channel (e.g., a PDCCH) in DCI, as discussedabove. In some cases, the scheduling assignments 510 may be transmittedusing a low-band anchor carrier and the data TTIs 505 may use high-bandmmW carriers. In other cases scheduling assignments 510 and the dataTTIs may both use high-band mmW carriers. The data TTIs 505 may beuplink TTIs, downlink TTIs, or combinations thereof, that may includephysical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or physical uplink sharedchannel (PUSCH) transmissions in which data may be transmitted.

As indicated above, the DCI may contain the BPL indication (alsoreferred to as a spatial quasi colocation (QCL) indication), details ofthe TTI (e.g., uplink or downlink resources, etc.), and a schedulingoffset (s_(i)). In this example, each of the scheduling assignments 510also include a BPL indication b_(i) (or QCL indication). The schedulingoffset indicates, in some cases, the time between the symbol thatcontains the DCI and the start of the associated data TTI. In theexample of FIG. 5 , similarly as discussed in FIGS. 3 and 4 , a firstscheduling assignment 515 may include an assignment for a first data TTI540 (TTI₀) and may indicate a first scheduling offset so correspondingto a time difference between the start time to of the first schedulingassignment 515 and the start time of the first data TTI 540. In thisexample, a second scheduling assignment 520 may include an assignmentfor a second data TTI 545 (TTI₁) and may indicate a second schedulingoffset s₁ corresponding to a time difference between the start time t₁of the second scheduling assignment 520 and the start time of the seconddata TTI 545, with similar scheduling assignments for a third schedulingassignment 525, fourth scheduling assignment 530, and fifth schedulingassignment 535 that schedule corresponding third data TTI 550 (TTI₂),fourth data TTI 555 (TTI₃), and fifth data TTI 560 (TTI₄).

In the example of FIG. 5 , in order to limit potential error propagationthat may result from a missed scheduling assignment, the base stationmay provide a BPL indication b_(i) for scheduling assignments 410 evenin cases where the scheduling offset is less than the threshold value.The UE can use this information to verify that it has used or is aboutto use the correct beam for the scheduled TTI. If not, the UE may takecorrective action and apply the beam compatible with b_(i) for a TTIthat starts at t_(i)+K, where t_(i) is the start of the symbol thatcarries the scheduling assignment DCI. In the example of FIG. 5 , thesecond scheduling assignment 520 and the fourth scheduling assignment530 may carry a BPL indication of b₀ to indicate to the UE that BPL b₀565 is used for the associated TTIs. Likewise after a switch to a secondBPL b₁ 570, if any scheduling assignments are provided in which thescheduling offset is less than the threshold value, the base station mayindicate b₁ in such scheduling assignments, which the UE may use toconfirm the BPL.

Likewise, if the UE does not successfully receive and decode the firstscheduling assignment 515, it will miss TTI₀ 540 and apply the wrongbeam for TTI, 545. In this example, the second scheduling assignment 520contains the QCL indication b₀ and the UE will likely decode thisinformation (e.g., via a low-band anchor carrier) while it isreceiving/transmitting TTI₁ 545. At that time, the UE may realize thatthe wrong BPL is being used due to a missed DCI. As a corrective actionthe UE may, for example, prepare a beam compatible with the BPL b₀ 565which can be ready for use after time t₁+K, well ahead of TTI₃ 555, andthe UE will receive/transmit TTI₃ 555 using the correct BPL. Similarly,if the UE were to miss third scheduling assignment 525, a correctioncould be made to the BPL upon receipt of a subsequent schedulingassignment irrespective of whether the associated scheduling offset isless than or greater than the threshold value K.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example of timings between controlinformation transmissions and associated data TTIs as well as associatedBPLs 600 that supports methods for beam determination after beam pairlink indication in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. In some examples, control information transmissions andassociated data TTIs as well as associated BPLs 600 may implementaspects of wireless communication system 100.

In the example of FIG. 6 , similarly as discussed with respect to FIGS.3 through 5 , a base station (e.g., a base station 105 of FIG. 1 or 2 )may transmit scheduling assignments 610 or resource allocations forcorresponding data TTIs 605. Scheduling assignments 610 may betransmitted on a control channel (e.g., a PDCCH) in DCI, as discussedabove. In some cases, the scheduling assignments 610 may be transmittedusing a low-band anchor carrier and the data TTIs 605 may use high-bandmmW carriers. In other cases scheduling assignments 610 and the dataTTIs may both use high-band mmW carriers. The data TTIs 605 may beuplink TTIs, downlink TTIs, or combinations thereof, that may includephysical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or physical uplink sharedchannel (PUSCH) transmissions in which data may be transmitted.

As indicated above, the DCI may contain the BPL indication (alsoreferred to as a spatial quasi colocation (QCL) indication), details ofthe TTI (e.g., uplink or downlink resources, etc.), and a schedulingoffset (s_(i)). In this example, each of the scheduling assignments 610also include a BPL indication b_(i) (or QCL indication). The schedulingoffset indicates, in some cases, the time between the symbol thatcontains the DCI and the start of the associated data TTI. In theexample of FIG. 6 , similarly as discussed in FIGS. 3 through 5 , afirst scheduling assignment 615 may include an assignment for a firstdata TTI 640 (TTI₀) and may indicate a first scheduling offset socorresponding to a time difference between the start time to of thefirst scheduling assignment 615 and the start time of the first data TTI640. In this example, a second scheduling assignment 620 may include anassignment for a second data TTI 645 (TTI₁) and may indicate a secondscheduling offset s₁ corresponding to a time difference between thestart time t₁ of the second scheduling assignment 620 and the start timeof the second data TTI 645, with similar scheduling assignments for athird scheduling assignment 625, fourth scheduling assignment 630, andfifth scheduling assignment 635 that schedule corresponding third dataTTI 650 (TTI₂), fourth data TTI 655 (TTI₃), and fifth data TTI 660(TTI₄).

In the example of FIG. 6 , another technique is provided which may limitpotential error propagation that may result from a missed schedulingassignment. Here, the base station may provide a BPL indication b_(i)for scheduling assignments 410 in which the indicated BPL is to beeffective at a starting time of the symbol used to transmit thescheduling assignment plus the threshold value K. Thus, such a techniqueprovides a rule that for s_(i)<K the BPL indication b_(i) will beeffective at the time t_(i)+K, where t_(i) is the start of the symbolthat carries the DCI for the scheduling assignment. In such cases, theBPL indication remains effective until it is overwritten by a new BPLindication. In contrast to the technique discussed above with respect toFIG. 5 , the BPL indication will be effective independent of any TTIstarting between t_(i) and t_(i)+K. In the example of FIG. 6 , in theevent that the UE does not successfully receive and decode the firstscheduling assignment 615, the UE will use the wrong BPL for TTI₁ 645but will have the correct beam for TTI₃ 655, because the starting timefor TTI₃ is greater than t₁+K. In this particular example, both thethird scheduling assignment 625 and the fourth scheduling assignment 630create an effective QCL indication for TTI₂ 650 which reduces theprobability that the UE uses the wrong BPL for TTI₂ 650, since both DCIsneed to be lost in order for such an error to occur.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example of timings between controlinformation transmissions and associated data TTIs as well as associatedBPLs 700 that supports methods for beam determination after beam pairlink indication in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. In some examples, control information transmissions andassociated data TTIs as well as associated BPLs 700 may implementaspects of wireless communication system 100.

In the example of FIG. 7 , similarly as discussed with respect to FIGS.3 through 6 , a base station (e.g., a base station 105 of FIG. 1 or 2 )may transmit scheduling assignments 710 or resource allocations forcorresponding data TTIs 705. Scheduling assignments 710 may betransmitted on a control channel (e.g., a PDCCH) in DCI, as discussedabove. In some cases, the scheduling assignments 710 may be transmittedusing a low-band anchor carrier and the data TTIs 705 may use high-bandmmW carriers. In other cases scheduling assignments 710 and the dataTTIs may both use high-band mmW carriers. The data TTIs 705 may beuplink TTIs, downlink TTIs, or combinations thereof, that may includephysical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or physical uplink sharedchannel (PUSCH) transmissions in which data may be transmitted.

As indicated above, the DCI may contain the BPL indication (alsoreferred to as a spatial quasi colocation (QCL) indication), details ofthe TTI (e.g., uplink or downlink resources, etc.), and a schedulingoffset (s_(i)). In this example, each of the scheduling assignments 710also include a BPL indication b_(i) (or QCL indication). The schedulingoffset indicates, in some cases, the time between the symbol thatcontains the DCI and the start of the associated data TTI. In theexample of FIG. 7 , similarly as discussed in FIGS. 3 through 6 , afirst scheduling assignment 715 may include an assignment for a firstdata TTI 740 (TTI₀) and may indicate a first scheduling offset socorresponding to a time difference between the start time to of thefirst scheduling assignment 715 and the start time of the first data TTI740. In this example, a second scheduling assignment 720 may include anassignment for a second data TTI 745 (TTI₁) and may indicate a secondscheduling offset s_(i) corresponding to a time difference between thestart time t_(i) of the second scheduling assignment 720 and the starttime of the second data TTI 745, with similar scheduling assignments fora third scheduling assignment 725, fourth scheduling assignment 730, andfifth scheduling assignment 735 that schedule corresponding third dataTTI 750 (TTI₂), fourth data TTI 755 (TTI₃), and fifth data TTI 760(TTI₄).

In the example of FIG. 7 , another technique is provided which mayprovide that a BPL is switched relatively quickly after a determinationis made to switch BPLs. For example, a base station may detect fading ina first BPL 765 and determine to switch to a second BPL 770. In thisexample, a rule may be provided that, independent of the schedulingoffset, the QCL indication b_(i) is effective at time t_(i)+K. This alsoallows a change of the BPL for TTIs that have already been scheduledwith a large scheduling offset. For example, the base station maydetermine at time t₃ that the second BPL 770 is better than the firstBPL 765. At that point TTI₂ 750 is already scheduled with the thirdscheduling assignment 725 that indicates the first BPL 765. In thiscase, due to the fourth scheduling assignment 730 being provided thethreshold value K in advance of the start of TTI₂ 750, the UE will stilluse a beam compatible with the new BPL indication for the second BPL770. For this technique, similarly with the techniques described forFIGS. 5 and 6 , error propagation due to lost scheduling assignments maybe mitigated.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example of timings between controlinformation transmissions and associated data TTIs as well as associatedBPLs 800 that supports methods for beam determination after beam pairlink indication in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. In some examples, control information transmissions andassociated data TTIs as well as associated BPLs 800 may implementaspects of wireless communication system 100.

In the example of FIG. 8 , similarly as discussed with respect to FIGS.3 through 7 , a base station (e.g., a base station 105 of FIG. 1 or 2 )may transmit scheduling assignments 810 or resource allocations forcorresponding data TTIs 805. Scheduling assignments 810 may betransmitted on a control channel (e.g., a PDCCH) in DCI, as discussedabove. In some cases, the scheduling assignments 810 may be transmittedusing a low-band anchor carrier and the data TTIs 805 may use high-bandmmW carriers. In other cases scheduling assignments 810 and the dataTTIs may both use high-band mmW carriers. The data TTIs 805 may beuplink TTIs, downlink TTIs, or combinations thereof, that may includephysical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or physical uplink sharedchannel (PUSCH) transmissions in which data may be transmitted.

In the example of FIG. 8 , BPLs may be determined based on a function ofthe scheduling offsets and threshold values according to the varioustechniques described above. Table 1 shows the BPL indication b_(i)related interpretations for the different techniques of FIGS. 4 through7 .

TABLE 1 Description of the beam determination. Technique s_(i) ≥ K s_(i)< K FIG. 4 b_(i) is effective after t_(i) + s_(i) UE ignores bi FIG. 5until replaced by a new BPL UE uses bi for beam verifica- indicationtion FIG. 6 b_(i) is effective after t_(i) + K FIG. 7 b_(i) is effectiveafter t_(i) + K

For each technique, a scheduling assignment indicates that a UE is toprepare a beam compatible with the BPL indication eitherunconditionally, as in the examples of FIGS. 6 and 7 , or if a certaincondition is met as in the examples of FIGS. 4 and 5 . Both situationsmay be formally covered in a unified manner through a function ƒ(s_(i),K).

Table 2 shows the function f for the different described techniques.

TABLE 2 Functions f and g related to the disclosed techniques Techniquef (s_(i), K) g(s_(i), K) FIG. 4 s_(i) − K s_(i) FIG. 5 FIG. 6 0 max(s_(i), K) FIG. 7 K

In each case, the UE has to prepare beams only, if ƒ(s_(i), K)≥0. If theUE has to prepare a beam, it may apply the beam starting from the timet_(i)+g(s_(i), K) until a time when the UE is instructed by the samemechanism to use a potentially new beam. Table 2 shows the function gfor each technique.

In the example of FIG. 8 , which may apply to each of the discussedtechniques, a scheduling assignment 815 occurring at time t_(i) maycontain a scheduling offset s_(i) such that f(s_(i), K)≥0. Then the UEprepares a beam compatible with the BPL indication b_(i) 845 for use ofa beam for data starting with time t_(i)+g(s_(i), K). From allscheduling assignments 810 (DCI_(n)) with

-   -   i. f(s_(n), K)≥0    -   ii. t_(n)+g(s_(n), K)≥t_(i)+g(s_(i), K).        Further, let DCI_(j) be the one with the earliest beam start        time t_(j)+g(s_(j), K). In other words there is no scheduling        assignment DCI with a beam start time that falls between        t_(i)+g(s_(i), K) and t_(j)+g(s_(j), K). Then the UE uses the        beam compatible with b_(i) for all TTIs starting within the time        interval [t_(i)+g(s_(i), K), t_(j)+g(s_(j), K)].

In the example of FIG. 8 , the UE applies the beam compatible with b_(i)845 for TTI₁ 830 (scheduled by scheduling assignment 815) and also forTTI_(m) 835 as this is scheduled by a scheduling assignment 820 thatdoes not fulfill the condition f(s_(m), K)≥0. Another example for such aTTI_(m) 835 could be one with a beam start time of t_(m)+g(s_(m), K)occurring before t_(i)+g(s_(i), K). The BPL b_(j) 850 may be used afterscheduling assignment 825, for TTI_(j) 840, in this example.

With respect to scheduling assignment 810 timing, FIG. 8 does not showthe full scope of possibilities as will be readily recognized, and it isnoted that there can be many or no scheduling assignments betweenscheduling assignment 815 and scheduling assignment 825. It is alsopossible that scheduling assignment 825 occurs before schedulingassignment 815. Further g(s_(i), K) can be smaller or larger than s_(i)depending on the desired technique to be employed. However, g(s_(i), K),in each case, must always be larger or equal to threshold value K suchthat the UE has enough time to prepare a beam consistent with the BPLindication of the scheduling assignment.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a process flow 900 that supportsmethods for beam determination after beam pair link indication inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In someexamples, process flow 900 may implement aspects of wirelesscommunication system 100. Process flow 900 may include a base station105-b, and a UE 115-b, which may be examples of the correspondingdevices of FIG. 1 or 2 .

Initially, at 905, the UE 115-b and the base station 105-b may establisha connection. In some cases, the connection may be a mmW connectionusing a first BPL that is established between the base station 105-b andthe UE 115-b. In some cases, a low-band connection may be established,or another high-band connection may be established which may be used toconvey control information.

At 910, the base station 105-b may allocate a data TTI to the UE 115-band select a BPL for the data TTI. In some cases, the allocation may bemade based on data that is to be transmitted between the UE 115-b andthe base station 105-b. In some cases, the base station 105-b maymeasure one or more channel quality parameters associated with one ormore BPLs that may have been established during the connectionestablishment or afterward, and select the BPL based on themeasurements. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 115-b may provideone or more measurement reports that the base station 105-b may use indetermining a BPL to use for the data TTI. Channel quality measurementsmay be made according to established techniques, such as measurementsbased on one or more reference signal transmissions of the base station105-b and the UE 115-b. The base station 105-b may transmit DCI 915 tothe UE 115-b that indicates the allocated resources for the data TTI. Asdiscussed above, the DCI 915 may also indicate a scheduling offset and aBPL indication. In some cases, the base station 105-b may indicate theBPL for the data TTI based on one of the techniques as discussed above.

At 920, the UE 115-d may determine a threshold value (K) for BPLswitching. In some cases, the threshold value may be exchanged duringconnection establishment. As discussed above, the threshold value maycorrespond to a time that the UE 115-b may take to receive and decodeDCI, and prepare a changed beam.

At block 930, the UE 115-b may determine a BPL for the data TTI, andpotentially for one or more subsequent data TTIs, based on f(s_(i),K)≥0, g(s_(i), K)≥K, as discussed above with respect to FIG. 8 . Thebase station 105-b may transmit the data TTI transmission 935 using theBPL that is determined. In this example, the data TTI transmission 935is a downlink transmission, although in other cases it may be an uplinktransmission. At 940, the UE 115-b may receive the data TTI transmissionbased on the identified BPL.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram 1000 of a wireless device 1005 thatsupports methods for beam determination after beam pair link indicationin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless device1005 may be an example of aspects of a user equipment (UE) 115 asdescribed herein. Wireless device 1005 may include receiver 1010, UEcommunications manager 1015, and transmitter 1020. Wireless device 1005may also include a processor. Each of these components may be incommunication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

Receiver 1010 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to methods forbeam determination after beam pair link indication, etc.). Informationmay be passed on to other components of the device. The receiver 1010may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1335 described withreference to FIG. 13 . The receiver 1010 may utilize a single antenna ora set of antennas.

UE communications manager 1015 may be an example of aspects of the UEcommunications manager 1315 described with reference to FIG. 13 .

UE communications manager 1015 and/or at least some of its varioussub-components may be implemented in hardware, software executed by aprocessor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented insoftware executed by a processor, the functions of the UE communicationsmanager 1015 and/or at least some of its various sub-components may beexecuted by a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), anfield-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described in thepresent disclosure. The UE communications manager 1015 and/or at leastsome of its various sub-components may be physically located at variouspositions, including being distributed such that portions of functionsare implemented at different physical locations by one or more physicaldevices. In some examples, UE communications manager 1015 and/or atleast some of its various sub-components may be a separate and distinctcomponent in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.In other examples, UE communications manager 1015 and/or at least someof its various sub-components may be combined with one or more otherhardware components, including but not limited to an I/O component, atransceiver, a network server, another computing device, one or moreother components described in the present disclosure, or a combinationthereof in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

UE communications manager 1015 may establish, at a user equipment, afirst connection with a base station using a first beam pair link (BPL),maintain a BPL for data, which is initialized with the first BPL and isused during data transmission time intervals (TTIs), identify athreshold value corresponding to an amount of time needed by the UE todecode an indication of a BPL switch and apply a different BPL than thefirst BPL based on the indication, receive a first control informationtransmission at a first time, the first control information transmissionincluding a scheduling offset, an assignment for a first data TTI thatstarts at a second time corresponding to the first time plus thescheduling offset, and a BPL indication, determine, based on thethreshold value and the scheduling offset, whether to switch the BPL fordata and a switching time for making the switch, and switch the BPL fordata to a second BPL at the switching time responsive to determining toswitch the BPL for data.

Transmitter 1020 may transmit signals generated by other components ofthe device. In some examples, the transmitter 1020 may be collocatedwith a receiver 1010 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 1020 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1335described with reference to FIG. 13 . The transmitter 1020 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a wireless device 1105 thatsupports methods for beam determination after beam pair link indicationin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless device1105 may be an example of aspects of a wireless device 1005 or a UE 115as described with reference to FIG. 10 . Wireless device 1105 mayinclude receiver 1110, UE communications manager 1115, and transmitter1120. Wireless device 1105 may also include a processor. Each of thesecomponents may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one ormore buses).

Receiver 1110 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to methods forbeam determination after beam pair link indication, etc.). Informationmay be passed on to other components of the device. The receiver 1110may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1335 described withreference to FIG. 13 . The receiver 1110 may utilize a single antenna ora set of antennas.

UE communications manager 1115 may be an example of aspects of the UEcommunications manager 1315 described with reference to FIG. 13 . UEcommunications manager 1115 may also include connection establishmentcomponent 1125, BPL manager 1130, threshold identification component1135, and downlink control information (DCI) component 1140.

Connection establishment component 1125 may establish, at a userequipment, a first connection with a base station using a first beampair link (BPL) for transmission of data TTIs. In some cases, the dataTTIs include uplink data TTIs, downlink data TTIs, or combinationsthereof.

BPL manager 1130 may maintain a BPL for data, which is initialized withthe first BPL and is used during data transmission time intervals(TTIs). In some cases, the BPL may be determined based on a thresholdvalue and scheduling offset, and the BPL manager 1130 may determinewhether to switch the BPL for data and a switching time for making theswitch. In cases where BPL manager 1130 determines to switch the BPL, itmay switch the BPL for data to a second BPL at the switching time. Insome cases, the determining includes determining to switch the BPL fordata based on determining that the scheduling offset is greater than orequal to the threshold value, and to switch the BPL for data to thesecond BPL at the second time. In some cases, the determining includesdetermining to maintain the first BPL as the BPL for data based ondetermining that the scheduling offset is less than the threshold value.In some cases, the determining includes determining to switch the BPLfor data to the second BPL, based on determining that the schedulingoffset is less than the threshold value, effective starting at the firsttime plus the threshold value. In some cases, the determining includesdetermining to switch the BPL for data to the second BPL at the firsttime plus the threshold value irrespective of the scheduling offset.

Threshold identification component 1135 may identify the threshold valuecorresponding to an amount of time needed by the UE to decode anindication of a BPL switch and apply a different BPL than the first BPLbased on the indication.

DCI component 1140 may receive a first control information transmissionat a first time, the first control information transmission including ascheduling offset, an assignment for a first data TTI that starts at asecond time corresponding to the first time plus the scheduling offset,and a BPL indication.

Transmitter 1120 may transmit signals generated by other components ofthe device. In some examples, the transmitter 1120 may be collocatedwith a receiver 1110 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 1120 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1335described with reference to FIG. 13 . The transmitter 1120 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram 1200 of a UE communications manager 1215that supports methods for beam determination after beam pair linkindication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The UEcommunications manager 1215 may be an example of aspects of a UEcommunications manager 1015, a UE communications manager 1115, or a UEcommunications manager 1315 described with reference to FIGS. 10, 11,and 13 . The UE communications manager 1215 may include connectionestablishment component 1220, BPL manager 1225, threshold identificationcomponent 1230, DCI component 1235, and error detection component 1240.Each of these modules may communicate, directly or indirectly, with oneanother (e.g., via one or more buses).

Connection establishment component 1220 may establish, at a userequipment, a first connection with a base station using a first beampair link (BPL) for transmission of data TTIs. In some cases, the dataTTIs include uplink data TTIs, downlink data TTIs, or combinationsthereof.

BPL manager 1225 may maintain a BPL for data, which is initialized withthe first BPL and is used during data transmission time intervals(TTIs). In some cases, the BPL may be determined based on a thresholdvalue and scheduling offset, and the BPL manager 1225 may determinewhether to switch the BPL for data and a switching time for making theswitch. In cases where BPL manager 1225 determines to switch the BPL, itmay switch the BPL for data to a second BPL at the switching time. Insome cases, the determining includes determining to switch the BPL fordata based on determining that the scheduling offset is greater than orequal to the threshold value, and to switch the BPL for data to thesecond BPL at the second time. In some cases, the determining includesdetermining to maintain the first BPL as the BPL for data based ondetermining that the scheduling offset is less than the threshold value.In some cases, the determining includes determining to switch the BPLfor data to the second BPL, based on determining that the schedulingoffset is less than the threshold value, effective starting at the firsttime plus the threshold value. In some cases, the determining includesdetermining to switch the BPL for data to the second BPL at the firsttime plus the threshold value irrespective of the scheduling offset.

Threshold identification component 1230 may identify a threshold valuecorresponding to an amount of time needed by the UE to decode anindication of a BPL switch and apply a different BPL than the first BPLbased on the indication.

DCI component 1235 may receive a first control information transmissionat a first time, the first control information transmission including ascheduling offset, an assignment for a first data TTI that starts at asecond time corresponding to the first time plus the scheduling offset,and a BPL indication.

Error detection component 1240 may identify that an error in receiving aprior BPL indication has occurred based on determining that thescheduling offset is less than the threshold value, and the BPLindicated in the first control information transmission indicates theBPL used by the base station for the first data TTI differs from thefirst BPL and correct the BPL for data as maintained by the UE and usingthe corrected BPL for data after the first time plus the thresholdvalue.

FIG. 13 shows a diagram of a system 1300 including a device 1305 thatsupports methods for beam determination after beam pair link indicationin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Device 1305 may bean example of or include the components of wireless device 1005,wireless device 1105, or a UE 115 as described above, e.g., withreference to FIGS. 10 and 11 . Device 1305 may include components forbi-directional voice and data communications including components fortransmitting and receiving communications, including UE communicationsmanager 1315, processor 1320, memory 1325, software 1330, transceiver1335, antenna 1340, and I/O controller 1345. These components may be inelectronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1310). Device1305 may communicate wirelessly with one or more base stations 105.

Processor 1320 may include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a central processing unit (CPU), amicrocontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, adiscrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardwarecomponent, or any combination thereof). In some cases, processor 1320may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller.In other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into processor1320. Processor 1320 may be configured to execute computer-readableinstructions stored in a memory to perform various functions (e.g.,functions or tasks supporting methods for beam determination after beampair link indication).

Memory 1325 may include random access memory (RAM) and read only memory(ROM). The memory 1325 may store computer-readable, computer-executablesoftware 1330 including instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to perform various functions described herein. In some cases,the memory 1325 may contain, among other things, a basic input/outputsystem (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operationsuch as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

Software 1330 may include code to implement aspects of the presentdisclosure, including code to support methods for beam determinationafter beam pair link indication. Software 1330 may be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or othermemory. In some cases, the software 1330 may not be directly executableby the processor but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled andexecuted) to perform functions described herein.

Transceiver 1335 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, thetransceiver 1335 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1335 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas.

In some cases, the wireless device may include a single antenna 1340.However, in some cases the device may have more than one antenna 1340,which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiplewireless transmissions.

I/O controller 1345 may manage input and output signals for device 1305.I/O controller 1345 may also manage peripherals not integrated intodevice 1305. In some cases, I/O controller 1345 may represent a physicalconnection or port to an external peripheral. In some cases, I/Ocontroller 1345 may utilize an operating system such as iOS®, ANDROID®,MS-DOS®, MS-WINDOWS®, OS/2®, UNIX®, LINUX®, or another known operatingsystem. In other cases, I/O controller 1345 may represent or interactwith a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device.In some cases, I/O controller 1345 may be implemented as part of aprocessor. In some cases, a user may interact with device 1305 via I/Ocontroller 1345 or via hardware components controlled by I/O controller1345.

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram 1400 of a wireless device 1405 thatsupports methods for beam determination after beam pair link indicationin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless device1405 may be an example of aspects of a base station 105 as describedherein. Wireless device 1405 may include receiver 1410, base stationcommunications manager 1415, and transmitter 1420. Wireless device 1405may also include a processor. Each of these components may be incommunication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

Receiver 1410 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to methods forbeam determination after beam pair link indication, etc.). Informationmay be passed on to other components of the device. The receiver 1410may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1735 described withreference to FIG. 17 . The receiver 1410 may utilize a single antenna ora set of antennas.

Base station communications manager 1415 may be an example of aspects ofthe base station communications manager 1715 described with reference toFIG. 17 .

Base station communications manager 1415 and/or at least some of itsvarious sub-components may be implemented in hardware, software executedby a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented insoftware executed by a processor, the functions of the base stationcommunications manager 1415 and/or at least some of its varioussub-components may be executed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, anASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described in the presentdisclosure. The base station communications manager 1415 and/or at leastsome of its various sub-components may be physically located at variouspositions, including being distributed such that portions of functionsare implemented at different physical locations by one or more physicaldevices. In some examples, base station communications manager 1415and/or at least some of its various sub-components may be a separate anddistinct component in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. In other examples, base station communications manager 1415and/or at least some of its various sub-components may be combined withone or more other hardware components, including but not limited to anI/O component, a transceiver, a network server, another computingdevice, one or more other components described in the presentdisclosure, or a combination thereof in accordance with various aspectsof the present disclosure.

Base station communications manager 1415 may establish, at a basestation, a first connection with a UE using a first beam pair link(BPL), maintain a BPL for data, which is initialized with the first BPLand is used during data transmission time intervals (TTIs), change theBPL for data to a second BPL based at least on one or more channelconditions, identify a threshold value corresponding to an amount oftime for the UE to decode an indication of a BPL switch and apply adifferent BPL based on the indication, allocate resources for the UE fora first data TTI, determine a scheduling offset between a controlinformation transmission indicating the allocated resources and a startof the first data TTI, and transmit control information to the UE, thecontrol information including the scheduling offset, an assignment forthe first data TTI, and a BPL indication, and where the schedulingoffset, a time of the control information transmission, the thresholdvalue, and the BPL indication indicates to the UE whether the BPL fordata will change and a BPL change time.

Transmitter 1420 may transmit signals generated by other components ofthe device. In some examples, the transmitter 1420 may be collocatedwith a receiver 1410 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 1420 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1735described with reference to FIG. 17 . The transmitter 1420 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 15 shows a block diagram 1500 of a wireless device 1505 thatsupports methods for beam determination after beam pair link indicationin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless device1505 may be an example of aspects of a wireless device 1405 or a basestation 105 as described with reference to FIG. 14 . Wireless device1505 may include receiver 1510, base station communications manager1515, and transmitter 1520. Wireless device 1505 may also include aprocessor. Each of these components may be in communication with oneanother (e.g., via one or more buses).

Receiver 1510 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to methods forbeam determination after beam pair link indication, etc.). Informationmay be passed on to other components of the device. The receiver 1510may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1735 described withreference to FIG. 17 . The receiver 1510 may utilize a single antenna ora set of antennas.

Base station communications manager 1515 may be an example of aspects ofthe base station communications manager 1715 described with reference toFIG. 17 . Base station communications manager 1515 may also includeconnection establishment component 1525, BPL manager 1530, channelcondition component 1535, resource allocation component 1540, and DCIcomponent 1545.

Connection establishment component 1525 may establish, at a basestation, a first connection with a UE using a first beam pair link (BPL)for transmission of data TTIs. In some cases, the data TTIs includeuplink data TTIs, downlink data TTIs, or combinations thereof.

BPL manager 1530 may maintain a BPL for data, which is initialized withthe first BPL and is used during data transmission time intervals(TTIs). In some cases, BPL manager 1530 may identify a threshold valuecorresponding to an amount of time for the UE to decode an indication ofa BPL switch and apply a different BPL based on the indication. In somecases, BPL manager 1530 may determine not to convey a change of the BPLfor data when the scheduling offset is less than the threshold value,and when the scheduling offset is less than the threshold value, the BPLindicated in the control information indicates the BPL used for thefirst data TTI. In some cases, a change of the BPL for data for thefirst data TTI is indicated by the scheduling offset being greater thanor equal to the threshold value. In some cases, a change of the BPL fordata is indicated by the scheduling offset being less than the thresholdvalue, and the BPL change time corresponds to the time of the controlinformation transmission plus the threshold value. In some cases, achange of the BPL for data is indicated irrespective of the schedulingoffset, and the BPL change time corresponds to the time of the controlinformation transmission plus the threshold value.

Channel condition component 1535 may change the BPL for data to a secondBPL based at least on one or more channel conditions. Resourceallocation component 1540 may allocate resources for the UE for a firstdata TTI.

DCI component 1545 may determine a scheduling offset between a controlinformation transmission indicating the allocated resources and a startof the first data TTI and transmit control information to the UE, thecontrol information including the scheduling offset, an assignment forthe first data TTI, and a BPL indication, and where the schedulingoffset, a time of the control information transmission, the thresholdvalue, and the BPL indication indicates to the ULE whether the BPL fordata will change and a BPL change time.

Transmitter 1520 may transmit signals generated by other components ofthe device. In some examples, the transmitter 1520 may be collocatedwith a receiver 1510 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 1520 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1735described with reference to FIG. 17 . The transmitter 1520 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 16 shows a block diagram 1600 of a base station communicationsmanager 1615 that supports methods for beam determination after beampair link indication in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The base station communications manager 1615 may be anexample of aspects of a base station communications manager 1715described with reference to FIGS. 14, 15, and 17 . The base stationcommunications manager 1615 may include connection establishmentcomponent 1620, BPL manager 1625, channel condition component 1630,resource allocation component 1635, and DCI component 1640. Each ofthese modules may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another(e.g., via one or more buses).

Connection establishment component 1620 may establish, at a basestation, a first connection with a UE using a first beam pair link (BPL)for transmission of data TTIs. In some cases, the data TTIs includeuplink data TTIs, downlink data TTIs, or combinations thereof.

BPL manager 1625 may maintain a BPL for data, which is initialized withthe first BPL and is used during data transmission time intervals(TTIs). In some cases, BPL manager 1625 may identify a threshold valuecorresponding to an amount of time for the UE to decode an indication ofa BPL switch and apply a different BPL based on the indication. In somecases, BPL manager 1625 may determine not to convey a change of the BPLfor data when the scheduling offset is less than the threshold value,and when the scheduling offset is less than the threshold value, the BPLindicated in the control information indicates the BPL used for thefirst data TTI. In some cases, a change of the BPL for data for thefirst data TTI is indicated by the scheduling offset being greater thanor equal to the threshold value. In some cases, a change of the BPL fordata is indicated by the scheduling offset being less than the thresholdvalue, and the BPL change time corresponds to the time of the controlinformation transmission plus the threshold value. In some cases, achange of the BPL for data is indicated irrespective of the schedulingoffset, and the BPL change time corresponds to the time of the controlinformation transmission plus the threshold value.

Channel condition component 1630 may change the BPL for data to a secondBPL based at least on one or more channel conditions.

Resource allocation component 1635 may allocate resources for the UE fora first data TTI.

DCI component 1640 may determine a scheduling offset between a controlinformation transmission indicating the allocated resources and a startof the first data TTI and transmit control information to the UE, thecontrol information including the scheduling offset, an assignment forthe first data TTI, and a BPL indication, and where the schedulingoffset, a time of the control information transmission, the thresholdvalue, and the BPL indication indicates to the ULE whether the BPL fordata will change and a BPL change time.

FIG. 17 shows a diagram of a system 1700 including a device 1705 thatsupports methods for beam determination after beam pair link indicationin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Device 1705 may bean example of or include the components of base station 105 as describedabove, e.g., with reference to FIG. 1 . Device 1705 may includecomponents for bi-directional voice and data communications includingcomponents for transmitting and receiving communications, including basestation communications manager 1715, processor 1720, memory 1725,software 1730, transceiver 1735, antenna 1740, network communicationsmanager 1745, and inter-station communications manager 1750. Thesecomponents may be in electronic communication via one or more buses(e.g., bus 1710). Device 1705 may communicate wirelessly with one ormore UEs 115.

Processor 1720 may include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, anFPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logiccomponent, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof).In some cases, processor 1720 may be configured to operate a memoryarray using a memory controller. In other cases, a memory controller maybe integrated into processor 1720. Processor 1720 may be configured toexecute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory to performvarious functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting methods for beamdetermination after beam pair link indication).

Memory 1725 may include RAM and ROM. The memory 1725 may storecomputer-readable, computer-executable software 1730 includinginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform variousfunctions described herein. In some cases, the memory 1725 may contain,among other things, a BIOS which may control basic hardware or softwareoperation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

Software 1730 may include code to implement aspects of the presentdisclosure, including code to support methods for beam determinationafter beam pair link indication. Software 1730 may be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or othermemory. In some cases, the software 1730 may not be directly executableby the processor but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled andexecuted) to perform functions described herein.

Transceiver 1735 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, thetransceiver 1735 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1735 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas.

In some cases, the wireless device may include a single antenna 1740.However, in some cases the device may have more than one antenna 1740,which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiplewireless transmissions.

Network communications manager 1745 may manage communications with thecore network (e.g., via one or more wired backhaul links). For example,the network communications manager 1745 may manage the transfer of datacommunications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115.

Inter-station communications manager 1750 may manage communications withother base station 105, and may include a controller or scheduler forcontrolling communications with UEs 115 in cooperation with other basestations 105. For example, the inter-station communications manager 1750may coordinate scheduling for transmissions to UEs 115 for variousinterference mitigation techniques such as beamforming or jointtransmission. In some examples, inter-station communications manager1750 may provide an X2 interface within an Long Term Evolution(LTE)/LTE-A wireless communication network technology to providecommunication between base stations 105.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1800 for methods forbeam determination after beam pair link indication in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The operations of method 1800 may beimplemented by a UE 115 or its components as described herein. Forexample, the operations of method 1800 may be performed by a UEcommunications manager as described with reference to FIGS. 10 through13 . In some examples, a UE 115 may execute a set of codes to controlthe functional elements of the device to perform the functions describedbelow. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 115 may perform aspects ofthe functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 1805 the UE 115 may establish, at a user equipment, a firstconnection with a base station using a first beam pair link (BPL). Theoperations of 1805 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1805 may beperformed by a connection establishment component as described withreference to FIGS. 10 through 13 .

At 1810 the UE 115 may maintain a BPL for data, which is initializedwith the first BPL and is used during data transmission time intervals(TTIs). The operations of 1810 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1810may be performed by a BPL manager as described with reference to FIGS.10 through 13 .

At 1815 the UE 115 may identify a threshold value corresponding to anamount of time needed by the UE to decode an indication of a BPL switchand apply a different BPL than the first BPL based at least in part onthe indication. The operations of 1815 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operationsof 1815 may be performed by a threshold identification component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 10 through 13 .

At 1820 the UE 115 may receive a first control information transmissionat a first time, the first control information transmission including ascheduling offset, an assignment for a first data TTI that starts at asecond time corresponding to the first time plus the scheduling offset,and a BPL indication. The operations of 1820 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of theoperations of 1820 may be performed by a DCI component as described withreference to FIGS. 10 through 13 .

At 1825 the UE 115 may determine, based at least in part on thethreshold value and the scheduling offset, whether to switch the BPL fordata and a switching time for making the switch. The operations of 1825may be performed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of 1825 may be performed by a BPLmanager as described with reference to FIGS. 10 through 13 . In somecases, the determining comprises determining to switch the BPL for datato the second BPL, based at least in part on determining that thescheduling offset is less than the threshold value, effective startingat the first time plus the threshold value. In some cases, thedetermining comprises determining to switch the BPL for data to thesecond BPL at the first time plus the threshold value irrespective ofthe scheduling offset.

At 1830 the UE 115 may switch the BPL for data to a second BPL at theswitching time responsive to determining to switch the BPL for data. Theoperations of 1830 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1830 may beperformed by a BPL manager as described with reference to FIGS. 10through 13 .

Utilizing techniques such as method 1800, the base station 105, the UE115, or both, may periodically measure one or more channel conditionsand may determine whether the first BPL, or a different second BPL, maybe more suitable for subsequent transmissions. Upon determining that thesecond BPL should be used for subsequent transmissions at the basestation 105 (e.g., through channel measurements or receiving signalingfrom the UE 115 with channel measurements), the second BPL may beindicated to the UE 115 in a control information transmission (e.g., aDCI transmission using a PDCCH). Depending upon the scheduling offsetand the threshold value for receiving control information and changingBPLs at the UE 115, the UE 115 may receive the control information anddetermine whether the BPL is to be changed. Such techniques may improvenetwork efficiency through transmissions using favorable BPLs, which maysupport higher data rates, lower error rates, or combinations thereof.

FIG. 19 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1900 for methods forbeam determination after beam pair link indication in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The operations of method 1900 may beimplemented by a UE 115 or its components as described herein. Forexample, the operations of method 1900 may be performed by a UEcommunications manager as described with reference to FIGS. 10 through13 . In some examples, a UE 115 may execute a set of codes to controlthe functional elements of the device to perform the functions describedbelow. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 115 may perform aspects ofthe functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 1905 the UE 115 may establish, at a user equipment, a firstconnection with a base station using a first beam pair link (BPL). Theoperations of 1905 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1905 may beperformed by a connection establishment component as described withreference to FIGS. 10 through 13 .

At 1910 the UE 115 may maintain a BPL for data, which is initializedwith the first BPL and is used during data transmission time intervals(TTIs). The operations of 1910 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1910may be performed by a BPL manager as described with reference to FIGS.10 through 13 .

At 1915 the UE 115 may identify a threshold value corresponding to anamount of time needed by the UE to decode an indication of a BPL switchand apply a different BPL than the first BPL based at least in part onthe indication. The operations of 1915 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operationsof 1915 may be performed by a threshold identification component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 10 through 13 .

At 1920 the UE 115 may receive a first control information transmissionat a first time, the first control information transmission including ascheduling offset, an assignment for a first data TTI that starts at asecond time corresponding to the first time plus the scheduling offset,and a BPL indication. The operations of 1920 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of theoperations of 1920 may be performed by a DCI component as described withreference to FIGS. 10 through 13 .

At 1925 the UE 115 may identify that an error in receiving a prior BPLindication has occurred based at least in part on determining that thescheduling offset is less than the threshold value, and the BPLindicated in the first control information transmission indicates theBPL used by the base station for the first data TTI differs from thefirst BPL. The operations of 1925 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operationsof 1925 may be performed by an error detection component as describedwith reference to FIGS. 10 through 13 .

At 1930 the UE 115 may correct the BPL for data as maintained by the UEand using the corrected BPL for data after the first time plus thethreshold value. The operations of 1930 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of theoperations of 1930 may be performed by an error detection component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 10 through 13 .

Utilizing techniques such as method 1900, the base station 105, the UE115, or both, may periodically measure one or more channel conditionsand may determine whether the first BPL, or a different second BPL, maybe more suitable for subsequent transmissions. Upon determining that thesecond BPL should be used for subsequent transmissions at the basestation 105 (e.g., through channel measurements or receiving signalingfrom the UE 115 with channel measurements), the second BPL may beindicated to the UE 115 in a control information transmission (e.g., aDCI transmission using a PDCCH). Depending upon the scheduling offsetand the threshold value for receiving control information and changingBPLs at the UE 115, the UE 115 may receive the control information anddetermine whether the BPL is to be changed. Such techniques may improvenetwork efficiency through transmissions using favorable BPLs, which maysupport higher data rates, lower error rates, or combinations thereof.

FIG. 20 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2000 for methods forbeam determination after beam pair link indication in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The operations of method 2000 may beimplemented by a base station 105 or its components as described herein.For example, the operations of method 2000 may be performed by a basestation communications manager as described with reference to FIGS. 14through 17 . In some examples, a base station 105 may execute a set ofcodes to control the functional elements of the device to perform thefunctions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the basestation 105 may perform aspects of the functions described below usingspecial-purpose hardware.

At 2005 the base station 105 may establish, at a base station, a firstconnection with a user equipment (UE) using a first beam pair link(BPL). The operations of 2005 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 2005may be performed by a connection establishment component as describedwith reference to FIGS. 14 through 17 .

At 2010 the base station 105 may maintain a BPL for data, which isinitialized with the first BPL and is used during data transmission timeintervals (TTIs). The operations of 2010 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of theoperations of 2010 may be performed by a BPL manager as described withreference to FIGS. 14 through 17 .

At 2015 the base station 105 may change the BPL for data to a second BPLbased at least on one or more channel conditions. The operations of 2015may be performed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of 2015 may be performed by achannel condition component as described with reference to FIGS. 14through 17 .

At 2020 the base station 105 may identify a threshold valuecorresponding to an amount of time for the UE to decode an indication ofa BPL switch and apply a different BPL based at least in part on theindication. The operations of 2020 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operationsof 2020 may be performed by a BPL manager as described with reference toFIGS. 14 through 17 .

At 2025 the base station 105 may allocate resources for the UE for afirst data TTI. The operations of 2025 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operationsof 2025 may be performed by a resource allocation component as describedwith reference to FIGS. 14 through 17 .

At 2030 the base station 105 may determine a scheduling offset between acontrol information transmission indicating the allocated resources anda start of the first data TTI. The operations of 2030 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In certain examples, aspectsof the operations of 2030 may be performed by a DCI component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 14 through 17 .

At 2035 the base station 105 may transmit control information to the UE,the control information including the scheduling offset, an assignmentfor the first data TTI, and a BPL indication, and wherein the schedulingoffset, a time of the control information transmission, the thresholdvalue, and the BPL indication indicates to the UE whether the BPL fordata will change and a BPL change time. The operations of 2035 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of 2035 may be performed by a DCIcomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 14 through 17 . In somecases, the base station may determine not to convey a change of the BPLfor data when the scheduling offset is less than the threshold value. Inother cases, when the scheduling offset is less than the thresholdvalue, the BPL indicated in the control information indicates the BPLused for the first data TTI. In some cases, a change of the BPL for datais indicated by the scheduling offset being less than the thresholdvalue, and the BPL change time corresponds to the time of the controlinformation transmission plus the threshold value. In some cases, achange of the BPL for data is indicated irrespective of the schedulingoffset, and the BPL change time corresponds to the time of the controlinformation transmission plus the threshold value.

Utilizing techniques such as method 2000, the base station 105, the UE115, or both, may periodically measure one or more channel conditionsand may determine whether the first BPL, or a different second BPL, maybe more suitable for subsequent transmissions. Upon determining that thesecond BPL should be used for subsequent transmissions at the basestation 105 (e.g., through channel measurements or receiving signalingfrom the UE 115 with channel measurements), the second BPL may beindicated to the UE 115 in a control information transmission (e.g., aDCI transmission using a PDCCH). Depending upon the scheduling offsetand the threshold value for receiving control information and changingBPLs at the UE 115, the UE 115 may receive the control information anddetermine whether the BPL is to be changed. Such techniques may improvenetwork efficiency through transmissions using favorable BPLs, which maysupport higher data rates, lower error rates, or combinations thereof.

It should be noted that the methods described above describe possibleimplementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearrangedor otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunications systems such as code division multiple access (CDMA),time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access(FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), singlecarrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and other systems.A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as CDMA2000,Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000,IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 Releases may be commonly referredto as CDMA2000 1×, 1×, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to asCDMA2000 1×EV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includesWideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA system mayimplement a radio technology such as Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM).

An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are releases of UMTSthat use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, NR, and GSM aredescribed in documents from the organization named “3rd GenerationPartnership Project” (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documentsfrom an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2”(3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for the systems andradio technologies mentioned above as well as other systems and radiotechnologies. While aspects of an LTE or an NR system may be describedfor purposes of example, and LTE or NR terminology may be used in muchof the description, the techniques described herein are applicablebeyond LTE or NR applications.

A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g.,several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs115 with service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cellmay be associated with a lower-powered base station 105, as comparedwith a macro cell, and a small cell may operate in the same or different(e.g., licensed, unlicensed, etc.) frequency bands as macro cells. Smallcells may include pico cells, femto cells, and micro cells according tovarious examples. A pico cell, for example, may cover a small geographicarea and may allow unrestricted access by UEs 115 with servicesubscriptions with the network provider. A femto cell may also cover asmall geographic area (e.g., a home) and may provide restricted accessby UEs 115 having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs 115 in aclosed subscriber group (CSG), UEs 115 for users in the home, and thelike). An eNB for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro eNB. An eNBfor a small cell may be referred to as a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, afemto eNB, or a home eNB. An eNB may support one or multiple (e.g., two,three, four, and the like) cells, and may also support communicationsusing one or multiple component carriers.

The wireless communications system 100 or systems described herein maysupport synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronousoperation, the base stations 105 may have similar frame timing, andtransmissions from different base stations 105 may be approximatelyaligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations 105 mayhave different frame timing, and transmissions from different basestations 105 may not be aligned in time. The techniques described hereinmay be used for either synchronous or asynchronous operations.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any ofa variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data,instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chipsthat may be referenced throughout the above description may berepresented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magneticfields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combinationthereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discretegate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described above can be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storagemedia and communication media including any medium that facilitatestransfer of a computer program from one place to another. Anon-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that can beaccessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media maycomprise random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othernon-transitory medium that can be used to carry or store desired programcode means in the form of instructions or data structures and that canbe accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection isproperly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the softwareis transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using acoaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line(DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave,then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, orwireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein,include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD),floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce datamagnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items(e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or“one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, alist of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BCor ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “basedon” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions.For example, an exemplary step that is described as “based on conditionA” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, asused herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manneras the phrase “based at least in part on.”

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label, or othersubsequent reference label.

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appendeddrawings, describes example configurations and does not represent allthe examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of theclaims. The term “exemplary” used herein means “serving as an example,instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous overother examples.” The detailed description includes specific details forthe purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques.These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shownin block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of thedescribed examples.

The description herein is provided to enable a person skilled in the artto make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosurewill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the genericprinciples defined herein may be applied to other variations withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is notlimited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to beaccorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein.

1. (canceled)
 2. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment(UE), comprising: receiving a first control information transmission ata first time, the first control information transmission including ascheduling offset, an assignment for a first data transmission timeinterval (TTI) that starts at a second time corresponding to the firsttime plus the scheduling offset, and a beam pair link (BPL) indication,the BPL indication indicating a different BPL for data that is differentfrom a current BPL; determining whether to switch from the current BPLto the different BPL for data based at least in part on the schedulingoffset and a threshold time value for the UE comprising a threshold timeto decode the first control information and to switch to the differentBPL; and communicating data during the first data TTI based on thedetermination.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:transmitting an indication of the threshold time prior to receiving thefirst control information.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:determining to switch from the current BPL to the different BPL for datato receive downlink data during the first data TTT based on thescheduling offset being equal to or greater than the threshold timevalue.
 5. The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining tomaintain the current BPL for data to receive downlink data during thefirst TTI based at least in part on the scheduling offset being lessthan the threshold time value.
 6. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: determining to switch from the current BPL to the differentBPL for data to receive downlink data during the first TTI based atleast in part on the scheduling offset being equal to or greater thanthe threshold time value for a time period starting at the first timeplus the threshold time value.
 7. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: determining to maintain the current BPL for data to receivedownlink data during the first TTI based at least in part on thescheduling offset being equal to or greater than the threshold timevalue for a time period starting at the first time plus the thresholdtime value.
 8. The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining toswitch from the current BPL to the different BPL for data to receivedownlink data at the first time plus the threshold time value andirrespective of the scheduling offset.
 9. A method for wirelesscommunication at a network device, comprising: identifying a thresholdtime value for a user equipment (UE), the threshold time value based atleast in part on a threshold time for the UE to decode a first controlinformation and switch from a current beam pair link (BPL) for data to adifferent BPL; transmit the first control information to the UE at afirst time, the first control information comprising a schedulingoffset, an assignment for a first data transmission time interval (TTI)that starts at a second time corresponding to the first time plus thescheduling offset, and a BPL indication, the BPL indication indicatingthe different BPL; and communicating with the UE during the first dataTTI based at least in part on the scheduling offset and the thresholdtime value for the UE.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:receiving an indication of the threshold time value from the UE prior totransmitting the first control information.
 11. The method of claim 9,wherein a change of the current BPL to the different BPL for data duringthe first data TTI is based on the scheduling offset being greater thanor equal to the threshold time value.
 12. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising: determining not to indicate the different BPL for data whenthe scheduling offset is less than the threshold value.
 13. An apparatusfor wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: aprocessor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored inthe memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:receive a first control information transmission at a first time, thefirst control information transmission including a scheduling offset, anassignment for a first data transmission time interval (TTI) that startsat a second time corresponding to the first time plus the schedulingoffset, and a beam pair link (BPL) indication, the BPL indicationindicating a different BPL for data that is different from a currentBPL; determine whether to switch from the current BPL to the differentBPL for data based at least in part on the scheduling offset and athreshold time value for the UE comprising a threshold time to decodethe first control information and to switch to the different BPL; andcommunicate data during the first data TTI based on the determination.14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions are furtherexecutable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit anindication of the threshold time prior to receiving the first controlinformation.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions arefurther executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: determineto switch from the current BPL to the different BPL for data to receivedownlink data during the first data TTT based on the scheduling offsetbeing equal to or greater than the threshold time value.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions are further executableby the processor to cause the apparatus to: determine to maintain thecurrent BPL for data to receive downlink data during the first TTI basedat least in part on the scheduling offset being less than the thresholdtime value.
 17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions arefurther executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: determineto switch from the current BPL to the different BPL for data to receivedownlink data during the first TTI based at least in part on thescheduling offset being equal to or greater than the threshold timevalue for a time period starting at the first time plus the thresholdtime value.
 18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions arefurther executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: determineto maintain the current BPL for data to receive downlink data during thefirst TTI based at least in part on the scheduling offset being equal toor greater than the threshold time value for a time period starting atthe first time plus the threshold time value.
 19. The apparatus of claim13, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor tocause the apparatus to: determine to switch from the current BPL to thedifferent BPL for data to receive downlink data at the first time plusthe threshold time value and irrespective of the scheduling offset. 20.An apparatus for wireless communication at a network device, comprising:a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions storedin the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:identify a threshold time value for a user equipment (UE), the thresholdtime value based at least in part on a threshold time for the UE todecode a first control information and switch from a current beam pairlink (BPL) for data to a different BPL; transmit the first controlinformation to the UE at a first time, the first control informationcomprising a scheduling offset, an assignment for a first datatransmission time interval (TTI) that starts at a second timecorresponding to the first time plus the scheduling offset, and a BPLindication, the BPL indication indicating the different BPL; andcommunicate with the UE during the first data TTI based at least in parton the scheduling offset and the threshold time value for the UE. 21.The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the instructions are furtherexecutable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive anindication of the threshold time value from the UE prior to transmittingthe first control information.
 22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein achange of the current BPL to the different BPL for data during the firstdata TTI is based on the scheduling offset being greater than or equalto the threshold time value.
 23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein theinstructions are further executable by the processor to cause theapparatus to: determine not to indicate the different BPL for data whenthe scheduling offset is less than the threshold value.